


Sweet as You

by dee_thehoneybee



Series: Jason and Malcolm [6]
Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Baking, Fluff, M/M, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:20:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23136829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dee_thehoneybee/pseuds/dee_thehoneybee
Summary: Cooking for himself was not something Malcolm considered important. But he understood the importance of cooking for others.Cooking for others was an easy way to show you care. Something made from scratch demonstrated the time and effort put into that relationship and all the love included. Jason had cooked for Malcolm countless times. When he came over, he wanted to make sure Malcolm got something healthy to eat.
Relationships: Malcolm Bright/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Jason and Malcolm [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1663702
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	Sweet as You

**Author's Note:**

> requested by anonymous: “Don’t Tell me I mixed the salt with the sugar.” Jason and Malcom please :) ❤️

Malcolm didn’t cook. He didn’t eat enough to justify learning how and Jessica hadn’t passed on many recipes. When he was a kid and he was hungry, he had a nanny to cook for him. In college, he had money to buy takeout. If all else failed, he usually wasn’t hungry anyway. Cooking for himself was not something Malcolm considered important. But he understood the importance of cooking for others.

Cooking for others was an easy way to show you care. Something made from scratch demonstrated the time and effort put into that relationship and all the love included. Jason had cooked for Malcolm countless times. When he came over, he wanted to make sure Malcolm got something healthy to eat. In his own words: “You can’t eat licorice at every meal”. Now Malcolm wanted to return the favor.

He didn’t have much to go on. Jason usually catered to his tastes and he had no recipes to share. Dani suggested he start with something simple, so she sent him a list of ingredients needed to make cupcakes.

“Who doesn’t like cupcakes?” she told him. “And if you mess them up, you can always cover them with frosting.”

It seemed easy enough.

In retrospect, Malcolm should have made them from a box. By the time he was done, there was a collection of bowls, cups, and measuring spoons piled high in his sink. He didn’t have a single bowl big enough for the batter, so he mixed the ingredients in four separate bowls. Then he didn’t have a mixer, so he stirred it by hand. When he pulled them out of the oven, they were still wet, so he put them back in and forgot to set the timer. When Sunshine started getting restless in her cage, he realized his mistake. They turned out a dark brown, but they were chocolate, so Malcolm assumed it was alright.

The frosting was more successful. He was halfway through icing the cupcakes when his phone chimed, alerting him to a text from Jason.

Just left work. Omw over. What’s the big surprise?

Malcolm smiled to himself. He couldn’t wait to see Jason’s reaction to the cupcakes. Speaking of which, he thought privately, he would need to hurry. It was only a twenty minute walk from Jason’s work to Malcolm’s apartment…

A “surprise” had Jason worried. Malcolm was full of surprises, not always good. But the tone of Malcolm’s text messages suggested this one had potential.

No sooner than Jason had turned the key in the lock did he hear Malcolm scrambling on the other side of the door. He stepped inside and felt his heart swell at the sight in front of him.

Malcolm stood behind the kitchen counter, shirt powdered white with flour and a smile on his face. A dozen cupcakes of varying shapes and sizes were spread out neatly on a single sheet of parchment paper. Jason put two and two together and realized Malcolm must have made them from himself.

“What’s all this?”

“Cupcakes!” Malcolm proudly proclaimed, as if Jason didn’t already know. “I made them–for you.” And Jason didn’t think he could be cuter.

He stepped toward Malcolm. Upon closer inspection, the man had a bit of flour smeared across his cheek. He cupped Malcolm’s face in his hands and swiped a thumb over the spot.

“What did I do to deserve this?” He smiled against a sweet kiss.

Parting from their kiss, Malcolm leaned against the counter and Jason took a seat on the nearest bar stool.

“You’re always cooking for me. I thought it was time I did something for you. Dani sent me the recipe.”

“Well thank you, Dani.” Jason picked at the wrapper of a larger cupcake. He could tell Malcolm had put a lot of effort into each one, even if they turned out a little lop-sided from the heavy amounts of frosting. That didn’t matter to Jason. What mattered was the thought Malcolm had put into it. “And thank you. Should we try one?”

“You try one first.” Malcolm was on the edge of his seat, eager for a reaction.

Jason peeled the paper from his cupcake and bit into the confection. Malcolm had opted for a dark chocolate frosting and chocolate cake too. Classic, but with that little bit of prestige Malcolm was know for. Jason wanted to point out the overabundance of sweets in his partner’s diet. The man practically lived on candy and sparkling water. But Jason also had an appreciation for a decent baked good. Unfortunately, this could not be qualified as one.

Jason nearly choked on the bitter, salty taste of what was in his mouth, but he exercised great restrain to keep from showing it. Malcolm watched him swallow and awaited his critique.

“Um,” Jason could feel his face heating up. He had no words for how horrible it was–well none that were polite enough to save his partner’s feelings anyway. “Why don’t you try one?”

Confused, Malcolm carefully picked up a cupcake and took a tentative bite. He stayed watching Jason, trying to figure out what the problem could possibly be–oh.

Malcolm quickly looked for a paper towel to spit it out in.

Any composure Jason had left was lost in that instance. He threw his head into his hands and shook with laughter.

“They’re so bad,” he informed Malcolm, “They’re so bad, babe.”

Malcolm didn’t pay him any attention, too focused on what went wrong. He’d followed Dani’s recipe exactly. Well, not exactly, he didn’t have vegetable oil, so he used canola. And he didn’t have a sifter so he used a fork. He also didn’t have cane sugar, so he used granulated. But where was the granulated sugar? He couldn’t find it now. He was positive he left it right next to the salt.

“Oh, don’t tell me I mixed the salt with the sugar.” That would certainly explain the flavor.

Jason’s laughter slowly died down as he stood to wrap his arms around Malcolm. He pressed a gentle kiss into Malcolm’s shoulder.”It’s okay. I really appreciate the effort. Honestly. I can tell you put a lot of work into these.”

Malcolm leaned heavily against Jason. “I know, I just wanted to make something you like. To show you how much I appreciate you.” Jason didn’t need to see Malcolm’s face to tell how disappointing he was.

“Tell you what. I don’t work tomorrow. How about I stay the night and in the morning we can try making these again together?”

Malcolm perked up, a little hopeful.

“Alright.”

The next morning, they had cupcakes for breakfast. This time, Jason swore they were just as sweet as Malcolm.

Well, almost as sweet as Malcolm.


End file.
